Rodney Wood

Biography

"I think you should take poetry seriously but never yourself."I was the founder member of the Open University Poets last century, ran the Westy Poets in 2008/09 in Aldershot, did front of house work there (2007-2015), lead Woking Stanza, look after granddaughters, and spend a lot of time reading/writing/performing/watching all types of poetry as well as writing a draft of a novel called THE POET ASSASSIN. A pamphlet was shortlisted in the Poetry School/Pighog competition and I was a poet of the week on PSH. Recently I've been running (with Greg Freeman) WOL Woking which meets monthly and a short run of poetry at the West End Centre Aldershot in 2017. In 2017 a pamphlet, Dante Called You Beatrice, was published with The Red Ceilings Press and there were good reviews from The Journal, Magma and London Grip.
Poems have been published in magazines incl: Envoi (6), Magma (where I was the selected poet of the Deaf issue), the Reater, South, The Interpreter's House, Stride, Seam, Other Poetry, Prole, Tears in The Fence, well you get the general idea; anthologies incl Star Trek, Return To Sender, Split Screen, Double Bill, the Robin Hood Book and The Poet's Quest For God. I even had one poem broadcast on Poetry Please.

Samples

MUDDY WATERS
in Reading 4 April 1968
During the daytime the room was used as an underground café
but in the evening it was transformed once the Formica tables
and plastic chairs had been pushed against the lemon painted walls
leaving a space next to a poster of someone's head covered in bandages.
All this for Muddy Waters and his band from Chicago to play the blues -
Mannish Boy, Can't Be Satisfied, I'm Ready and Got My Mojo Working.
To me it was a history lesson, a dream, like the Second Coming,
watching Muddy Waters and his band from Chicago playing the blues.
There was one table and one chair left untouched on the opposite
side of the room under a frosted window and out of date price list.
I sat there watching men and women jump and shout at sounds
from electric guitars, harmonica, drums, and a voice moaning through the amps.
It was Muddy Waters and his band from Chicago playing the blues -
Mannish Boy, Can't Be Satisfied, I'm Ready and Got My Mojo Working.
To me it was a history lesson, a dream, like the Second Coming,
watching Muddy Waters and his band from Chicago playing the blues.
I silently tapped my shoes on the lino, my fingertips plucked invisible strings.
I was five yards away from the action watching men and women jump and shout
and I puffed a menthol cigarette to appear cool, at ease and invisible as smoke.
I was the only white kid in the room the day Martin Luther King had been shot
and I was watching Muddy Waters and his band from Chicago playing the blues -
Mannish Boy, Can't Be Satisfied, I'm Ready and Got My Mojo Working.
To me it was a history lesson, a dream, like the Second Coming,
watching Muddy Waters and his band from Chicago playing the blues
and I was the only white kid in the room the day Martin Luther King had been shot.
THE GHOST OF A THOUSAND
Ruby Revenge counts the days before
her fav band appear in Aldershot.
She's just 15 and can't fucking wait.
When the hour finally comes and after
Rolo Tomassi and Casino Brawl
have displayed their hairless armpits,
The Ghost of a Thousand take over
the scaffold and Tom screams into
the mic, Mem has a drumkit for a throne,
Gaz is a lumberjack chainsawing his bass
through Left For Dead and Blackday Number
and Andy and Jag thrash their guitars
bringing them to life through the flickering
silver, gold and black of Matchless amps.
During As They Breed They Swarm
headbanging fans become a shoal
of fish around Ruby Revenge who keeps
a curtain of hair over her face showing
her refusal to conform, her sense
of isolation, her feeling she's only cool
wearing the merch and that now
she's just 15 and can't fucking wait.
WHAT THE HOROSCOPE SAYS
it says carrier bags make me nervous
it says I dream of birdseed hanging
above gnomes and a lake of roses
it says the breakdown won't help
it says I'm waiting for something
better to come along, like another day
it says love is a valley of dead things
it says I can withstand high winds
and am not afraid of grotesque stones
it says I strain myself in a bad way
it says soles are worn and slip easily
but my feet want to dance out the door
it says I will be involved in replacement
it says the new moon makes me flexible
and it says someone will weep for me
“BILLET-DOUX”
She pushed a note saying “I love you”
through my letterbox . It was printed on A4
using Good Times font and a bold typeface.
I sent my reply
by email, recipe, Facebook, text, newsletter, blackberry, motor bike courier,
by paper airplane, Instant Message, choral work, my grandmother’s spirit,
by diplomatic bag, telephone, Morse, Parcelforce, blog, videotape, Twitter,
by a frame in the credits of her favourite film, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”,
by whistling, semaphore, walkie-talkie, short story, billboard outside her house,
by voice mail, photo, satellite, cable, fossil, card with two hearts on the cover,
by ouija board, automatic writing, florescent sign, cave painting, spam, seance,
by voucher, snail mail, PDF file, mobile app, flag, notice in Tesco's, prayer,
by classified ad, wrist band, finger spelling, fax, sonnet, loud-hailer, telepathy,
by talking dog, radio, aliens (illegal and space), Wikipedia, cloud, teleportation,
by ringtone, bottle, sky writing, guardian angel, the Mayor of Stockton-on-tees,
by substitution cipher, etched on a diamond, game, knotted string, carrier pigeon,
by a song from Erica (the extended mix version), smoke signal, balloon, picture,
by radio announcement, mirror writing, business card, mathematical notation,
by a TV show that displays texts on screen, drums, perfume, Braille, metaphor,
by dance, canzone, YouTube, pony express, bunch of flowers, Royal invitation
as well as by pushing through her letterbox
my reply which was scrawled beneath her note
and consisted of the single word
ditto.

All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.

Hiya, many thanks for comments on my old boots poem. Gave me much useful thinking. Normally when I start a poem I seem to begin with a really strong first line, a good idea of the middle bit and flounder into a weak ending (well, that's how it always seems in my head). This one was a little bit of a departure, and the verse now at the start was originally the second verse.

It's really useful seeing your thoughts on this because although to me it tells a story in the sequence it happened, it doesn't always convey itself to the reader, and it's done me good having a good old think about this. The reason I shifted that verse is because the whole poem relates to getting rid of the old footwear of the deceased, and the first pair to go are the boots chosen to quite literally go to the grave.

Thanks for your thoughts on Prestatyn, Rod.
Commenting gave me the chance to look at your stuff.
Your Muddy Waters poem reminded me of a gig I went to as a younger man to see 2 old blokes, one blind, one lame (bit like the bible parable) with a combined age of 146. Best concert I've ever been to - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee.

Hi Rodney... Thanks for reading and commenting on 'Pelt'. Glad you liked it. Ihave just got back from a weekend away on 'The Dinosaur coast' In a village called Staithes(Near Whitby) I have also changed the pic on the blog entry to one of mine which shows the view from the holiday cottage 2 nights ago. A stunning place. win

<Deleted User> (7164)

Sun 31st Jan 2010 13:39

Hi Rodney,
thanks for reading and commenting on my poem Mr. Skoulikaris.
Incidentally, i feel you are probably right about soulmate not being quite right so duly editing.

Good evening Rodney.Thank you for comments on my poem-The cord severed.-all duly noted and most certainly considered-or as my old teacher would write in school reports(and I,m sure you know whats coming)must try harder! cheers-Stefan.

Thanks for your kind comments for the poem 'The First Kiss'. Take your point about 'not being sure the songs having solos to die for'. I had to think of some (popular) songs that clearly had Harmonica solos in them.

Hi Rodney
That's a decent idea.
It may be a difficult thing to do without blowing your own trumpet.
(that's another thing I can't do)
I did have the thought that it could be something that could be extended when I get my mind working

<Deleted User> (6510)

Wed 16th Sep 2009 19:21

Hey Rodney I took out the moral, you are right, it speaks for itself, I think that I tried to reinforce it when it was strong enough -- thank you for the comment, I believe it is now a stronger poem.

<Deleted User> (6484)

Sun 13th Sep 2009 20:43

Thanks Rodney for your comments on "Them Downstairs"
Bernie

<Deleted User> (5973)

Fri 11th Sep 2009 10:44

Thank You for your comment on my poem 'the list'. I am glad you liked it.I think I will give it the 'harder' edge by taking off the moral at the end- after all it's a strong piece and the original ending softens it too much.

I like your work ,it has strong images to it.
Thanks
Spencer

<Deleted User> (5646)

Sat 5th Sep 2009 10:45

Hi Rodney, thanks for the comment on Kinsella.
I kind of agree with you about that line but placed it in brackets to make it less necessary to the poem. I just felt the ''distortion'' of the tune needed to be prominent.
I don't know if you read the first parts but you will find it in the August blogs if you'd like to catch up.